Mercato breaks ground on major expansion of its Piazza

After originally heralding the project last summer, Mercato officially broke ground July 23 on its Piazza expansion and creation of an entertainment hub in the center of the mixed-use development in North Naples.

Mercato’s “summer glow-up” will triple the size of the central Piazza along Strada Place, the main street that traverses the center. The goal is to create a more connected, pedestrian-friendly environment.

The existing 3,000-square-foot Piazza extends from the former Bravo Italian Kitchen to Narrative Coffee Roasters on its southern side. Its new northern side will extend from Beeline to Tommy Bahama.

“Look forward to expanded seating, additional shade and a state-of-the-art performance stage — perfect for gathering, relaxing and enjoying the events you know and love,” the center announced on social media this month.

Initially expected to be completed last fall, the renovations were delayed until this summer.

“We just had some internal pieces to still work out, so that kind of put us on hold,” said Lauren Ness, media relations manager for Jamestown LP, which manages and markets the center for Mercato owner PGIM Real Estate. “Then, we got official approval, so we were able to revamp the timeline and start this year. The plan really has stayed the same.”

Plans for the expanded Piazza feature additional turf, seat walls, benches, landscaping and lighting. The trunk and branches of the huge banyan tree on the corner already were recently illuminated with custom-made lanterns and color-changing LED lights.

“That curb that’s where this Piazza central area is right now, they’re going to basically flatten that so that guests can easily walk across and it all just flows into one big space as part of the tripling of the size,” Ness said.

Perimeter royal palm trees will be relocated, and the green space will be lowered to street level, allowing guests to comfortably venture onto Strada Place when it’s closed to vehicle traffic. On the northern side of the street, some of the on-street parking spaces will be removed to expand the sidewalk for a new lounge area between Lovesac and Beeline.

Strada Place is temporarily closed during construction. Once the changes are completed, vehicular traffic still will be permitted on the main interior street most of the time, as has always been the case.

“We’ll just close it down for our really big events,” Ness said. “It will be just a little more pedestrian friendly.”

Plans include a permanent covered performance stage in the area in front of Narrative coffee shop and Waxin’s restaurant and bar. Once the new space is created, movies, concerts and other events will no longer be hosted on the small lawn space east of Rocco’s Tacos.

The revamped Piazza is targeted to open in mid-October, Ness said.

“We’re looking at a big grand opening reveal event in early November, just in time for season,” she said.

Since the project was initially announced a year ago, some of the hospitality units near the Piazza experienced notable changes: Burntwood Tavern morphed into Taberna Burntwood; Waxin’s opened its Swedish-Amercian restaurant next door; Beeline cocktail lounge launched across the street; buildout began nearby for Shake Shack burger chain, which is expected to open before the end of the year; The 239 Naples was on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives;” Bravo Italian Kitchen permanently closed, and Chicago-based DineAmic Hospitality announced plans for Violi Greek restaurant there this fall.